The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is a political party in Pakistan established in 1996 by cricketer and politician Imran Khan, who served as the country's prime minister from 2018 to 2022. The party is led by Gohar Ali Khan since late 2023. It ranks among the three major Pakistani political parties alongside the Pakistan Muslim League–Nawaz (PML–N) and the Pakistan People's Party (PPP).
PTI failed to win a single seat in the 1997 general election and won only one seat in the 2002 general election, which was secured by Khan himself. From 1999 to 2007, the PTI supported the presidency of General Pervez Musharraf. It later rose in opposition to Musharraf in 2007 and also boycotted the 2008 general election, accusing it of having been conducted with fraudulent procedures under Musharraf's rule. The global popularity of the "Third Way" during the Musharraf era led to the rise of a new Pakistani political bloc focused on centrism, deviating from the traditional dominance of the centre-left PPP and the centre-right PML–N. When the PML–Q began to decline in the aftermath of Musharraf's presidency, much of its centrist voter bank was lost to the PTI. Around the same time, the PPP's popularity began to decrease after the disqualification of Yusuf Raza Gillani in 2012. With a claimed membership of over 10 million in Pakistan in 2012, the PTI appealed to many former PPP voters, particularly in the provinces of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, due to its outlook on populism.
In the 2013 general election, the PTI emerged as a major party with over 7.5 million votes, ranking second by number of votes and third by number of seats won. At the provincial level, it was voted to power in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. During its time in opposition, the PTI, with the help of popular slogans such as (), mobilized people in rallies over public distress on various national issues, the most notable of which was the 2014 Azadi march. In the 2018 general election, it received 16.9 million votes—the largest amount for any political party in Pakistan thus far. It became the largest party in terms of representation in the National Assembly of Pakistan since the 2018 general election and then formed the national government in coalition with five other parties for the first time, with Khan serving as the new Pakistani prime minister. However, in April 2022, a no-confidence motion against Khan removed him and his PTI government from office at the federal level.
Officially, the PTI has stated that its focus is on turning Pakistan into a model welfare state espousing Islamic socialism, and also on dismantling religious discrimination against Pakistani minorities. The PTI terms itself an anti– movement advocating an Islamic democracy centred on egalitarianism. It claims to be the only non-dynastic party of mainstream Pakistani politics in contrast to parties such as the PPP and PML–N. Since 2019, the party has been criticized by political opponents and analysts alike for its failures to address various economic and political issues, particularly the Pakistani economy, which was further weakened in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, Khan's government was later praised for leading the country's pandemic recovery in its later stages. During its time in power, the party faced backlash over its crackdown on the Pakistani opposition as well as its regulation of increased censorship through curbs on Pakistani media outlets and freedom of speech.
The party faced a crackdown following the May 9 riots, with arrests, detention and the resignation of party leaders, while the government claimed that this action was a necessary response to the violence, vandalism, and arson allegedly carried out by PTI officeholders and supporters. On 2 December 2023, Gohar Ali Khan was elected unopposed as the Chairman of the PTI. Imran Khan nominated him for the position of the new chairman of the PTI.
History Foundation and early years Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was founded by Imran Khan on 25 April 1996 in Lahore. PTI was conceived when Khan discussed forming a political party at the home of Dr. Nausherwan Burki, head of the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital (SKMH). Those involved included Pervez Hasan, a lawyer and SKMH board member; Naeemul Haq, Khan's former bank manager and close associate; Abdul Hafeez Khan, a Pakistani expatriate businessman; and Ahsan Rashid, a former oil company executive and SKMH fundraiser in Saudi Arabia. Later that day, Hamid Khan, a constitutional lawyer, was approached and joined the party. Khan cited frustration with government corruption and restrictions placed by Benazir Bhutto's government on his philanthropic activities as reasons for entering politics. Although Khan instructed that SKMH fundraising be kept separate from PTI, many founding members were donors or fundraisers for the hospital, and the party's early culture reflected its philanthropic origins.
Among the party's founding members were Akbar S. Babar, Arif Alvi, Asad Qaiser, Imran Ismail, Omar Sarfraz Cheema, Najeeb Haroon, Haji Nazim, and Dawa Khan Sabir. Aamir Mehmood Kiani, Faisal Javed, and Shadab H. Jafri also joined the party in 1996. Early women members included Fauzia Kasuri, an SKMH fundraiser in the United States, and Saloni Bokhari, a Lahori businesswoman and SKMH donor, both of whom are considered among the party's founding members; and Sadiqa Sahibdad Khan, a philanthropist and Hamid Khan's sister-in-law. Alvi was regarded as one of the authors of the party's constitution, and Hamid Khan was a leading intellectual influence on the party before 2011.
The party's early constitutional documents expressed commitments to social democracy, constitutionalism, political decentralisation, and the rule of law. Some critics alleged that PTI was an establishment party created by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence to bolster the state's national security narrative by legitimising jihadi groups and mainstreaming extremism.
From 1996 to 2002, PTI lacked a large activist base and meaningful internal competition. The party performed poorly in the 1997 and 2002 general elections, winning only Imran Khan's seat from Mianwali in both contests.
Reorganisation and rise (2007–2011) The Lawyers' Movement, the pro-democracy mobilisation following General Pervez Musharraf's 2007 Pakistani state of emergency, the decline of the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q), and disillusionment among Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) workers with Zardari's leadership contributed to an influx of workers and leaders into PTI. During this period, PTI workers, particularly students from its student wing, the Insaf Students Federation (ISF), regularly participated in Lawyers' Movement rallies while carrying PTI flags, increasing the party's public visibility. From around 2007, PTI began attracting professional politicians from both right- and left-wing parties, including some prominent leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami and a gradual inflow of student activists from its student wing, Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba, increasing its capacity to function as a catch-all party.
PTI boycotted the 2008 Pakistani general elections after Musharraf refused to step down as president. According to the columnist Nadeem F. Paracha, the party during this period was "merely drifting as a more good-looking B team of Jamaat-e-Islami". Between 2008 and 2011, former members of the PML-Q and disillusioned PPP workers in Punjab also began joining PTI. High-profile entrants included Jahangir Tareen and Aleem Khan, former ministers under Musharraf, who joined in 2011 before the October rally at Minar-e-Pakistan. In order to join PTI, Tareen resigned from the National Assembly of Pakistan, stating that his political vision aligned with that of party chairman Imran Khan. He emerged as one of the party's most prominent financiers and organisers and was described by Herald as PTI's "money man", citing his central role in funding party activities, protests, and election campaigns.
PTI operated largely as a bottom-up movement driven by activists and new political entrants, with limited reliance on traditional constituency networks in the period leading up to the October 2011 Lahore rally. The party mobilised support through expatriate fundraising, particularly from Pakistanis in the United States and United Kingdom, online membership registration and SMS-based enrolment, and the use of digital communication platforms such as SMSALL.PK. These organisational strategies contributed to the success of PTI's October 2011 Lahore rally. The party gained national prominence after the rally, which was attended by an estimated 100,000 supporters, and began to be viewed as a viable political force. The rally's format and aesthetics later became a template for PTI rallies and were subsequently adopted in the party's protests after 2013.
Shah Mehmood Qureshi joined the party in 2012, followed by veteran PML-N leader Javed Hashmi later that year. In March 2012, PTI's Central Executive Committee appointed Hashmi as the party's president.
2013 intra-party elections Tensions between long-standing members and new entrants were already evident in 2012, leading the party to pursue intraparty elections as a means of resolving internal conflict. Under its party manifesto, PTI is required to hold intra-party elections every four years; however, no such elections were held for nearly eleven years, and the party was identified by the Election Commission of Pakistan in January 2013 as having failed to conduct intra-party elections within the prescribed timeframe ahead of the general elections. In January and February 2013, PTI held intraparty elections across Punjab and in parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, allowing members registered via SMS to vote either electronically or at local polling booths. Elections were conducted from the union council level up to the central council, with Hamid Khan serving as election commissioner and the party's lawyers' wing assisting in administration.
Following these polls, Imran Khan was elected chairperson unopposed in March 2013, as no other party official filed nomination papers to contest the position. Khan stated that the party would impose a two-term limit on its chairperson and that he would not serve as a lifetime party head, saying that such practices were inconsistent with democratic norms. While the elections increased factional conflict and weakened PTI's constituency campaigns in the 2013 general elections, their longer-term impact saw former PML-Q leaders Jahangir Tareen and Aleem Khan gain influence sidelining the party's old guard. Naz Baloch, previously information secretary of the party's women's wing, was elected central vice president. In the Punjab chapter elections, Ejaz Chaudhry was elected president of PTI Punjab, and Yasmin Rashid was elected the party's provincial general secretary. In June 2013, former PTI women's wing leader Fauzia Kasuri resigned from the party, alleging that the intra-party elections had not been conducted fairly and accusing the party's election commissioner, Hamid Khan, of preventing her from contesting. PTI rejected these claims, stating that the elections were held on 21 March 2013 and that Kasuri had relinquished her US citizenship after the polls, affecting her eligibility to contest.